Susuru Ramen and Gyoza Bar on Newcastle's King Street has a new winter menu for your slurping pleasure.
The team have reinvented some customer favourites in time for the chilly weather. The vegan pepper ramen, for example, is topped with seasonal vegetables and heartier than ever.
There are also new additions, like the Japanese nachos, the truffle shoyu and the wagyu cheese gyoza.
Yum.
Cooking for a good cause
Six of Newcastle's top chefs cooked for a cause at Scratchley's on the Wharf earlier this month, helping to raise $114,000 for diabetes research.
The annual Gastronomic Lunch, organised by restaurateur Neil Slater and his wife Donna, has raised more than $1.9 million for the Hunter Medical Research Institute over the past 16 years.
Diners heard from HMRI researcher Professor Bruce King about his teams' quest to make life easier for the families of young children living with type 1 diabetes. They have developed a first of its kind app that allows people to input specific foods or ingredients of meals and automatically calculate the required insulin based on fat, protein and carbs.
The app has already shown promise in trials by giving parents better information to manage their children's insulin and giving them back time and quality of life, cutting down on the need to break out the calculator for each meal. Professor King says they will use the money raised by the Gastronomic Lunch to take the app to the next level by trying to integrate image recognition into the app.
"It was a fantastic day, and the generosity of the people who attended was unbelievable," Slater says.
"One of our auction items was 'chefs to your home' where Joel Humphreys and Dylan Abdoo, come to your house to prepare a five-course meal for 10. It sold for over $17,000, which is amazing."
Bao Brothers competition
Fancy a holiday to the warmer climate that is Cairns in Far North Queensland?
Following the success of their Bao out to Pokolbin giveaway in December, Bao Brothers have launched a new competition.
It's all quite simple. Spend $20 in store ((Westfield Kotara, The Corner Charlestown or Greenhills Shopping Centre) and scan the QR code to go in the draw to win an all-expenses-paid trip for two people to Cairns for four nights. You will arrive at the airport in a chauffeur-driven limousine and stay four nights at the five-star Crystalbrook Flynn where you have a $200 food and drinks voucher to spend at the hotel's restaurants and bars. You will also win $400 spending money to explore all that Cairns.
You can enter as many times as you like. The competition closes on June 30 and the winner announced on July 1.
Big bake-off a company first
Transformational Institute employees will be baking up a storm as part of their first Australia's Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser. The Broadmeadow independent training organisation is hosting a "bake-off" on June 26 to raise money for the Cancer Council.
Apprentice chefs needed
Second and third year apprentice chefs are being called on to help in the kitchen at this year'sFood Fight. It's on Monday, June 28, at Crowne Plaza Hunter Valley. There are also opportunities for several apprentices to showcase their skills and make a canape. To get involved, email Angela at mail@hunterculinary.com.au with your full name and phone number, your year of apprenticeship, the name of the restaurant or cafe you work for, and whether you are interested in making canapes or kitchen work. You will be required to start at 9am and finish about 3.30pm.
